


fifty words for murder (and i'm every one of them)

by potstickermaster



Category: Elementary (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blood, Criminal AU, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Involves a lot of killing, Kara is a reporter, Ladies with questionable morals, Luthor & Moriarty friendship, Sociopaths in denial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potstickermaster/pseuds/potstickermaster
Summary: -- currently on hold --When Jamie Moriarty fell in love with Joan Watson, she abandons her life in darkness and leaves her criminal empire to her best friend, Lena Luthor. Lena thinks it's a pathetic reason but she takes over anyway, and at the same time makes the most of out of the organization to bring about the goodness she wants to see in the world. The end justifies the means, after all.What happens when a novice reporter, all-too-innocent Kara Danvers comes crashing into Lena’s delicate plans?





	1. The Reporter

**Author's Note:**

> First time to venture into darker themes so please do let me know what you think. 
> 
> Title from _Victorious_ by Panic! At The Disco  
>  To anyone curious - cuddler update dropping this weekend

“It is a pity, Edge,” Lena sighs as she looks down the man kneeling in front of her. His face is bruised and bloodied but it doesn’t hide the spite on this face. Lena just smiles at him before glancing down at her gun, studying it. “You were one of my most adequate competitors when it came to business. I think it is quite unfortunate it has to end this way. How can you mess up so badly, darling?”

“It’s not my fault you deem those children—” He breaks off into a grunt when Lena strikes him across the head with the grip of her gun.

“Your orders were to handle Fisk, not poison the water system in a school,” Lena says coolly. She frowns when she sees the blood on the base of her gun and she wipes it with the back of her gloved hand. “You of all people should know _never_ to cross me.”

Edge has the gall to chuckle. He spits blood on the dirt and glares at Lena. “You’re too soft to be the head of this organization,” he manages to say through bloody teeth. “I don’t know why Moriarty picked _you.”_

Lena sighs again at that, then cocks her gun. “I am more than capable of leading this organization, darling,” she says, then presses the barrel of her pistol silencer against Edge’s skull, between his eyes. “Though unlike some of you, I’m _not_ a sociopath.”

She smiles sweetly at Edge and pulls the trigger. The muted sound echoes nonetheless through the empty warehouse. Lena side steps just before Edge’s lifeless body drops face first on the ground, missing her dark leather oxfords.

“You got some...” Samantha trails off. Lena turns to her right-hand woman to see Sam gesturing to the hem of her blazer. The raven-haired woman glances down at her own clothing and groans when she notices a splatter of blood on her pristine white shirt.

“I should have really worn a jacket over this, huh?” Lena sighs as she takes the silencer off her gun, then places both on the briefcase one of her women, Lucy, offers. “Or not have worn white. I still have an appointment in— _shit,”_ she curses as she glances down at her watch. “Thirty minutes. Fantastic.”

“We told you we could’ve handled it,” Sam says with amusement. Lena just shrugs as she unbuttons her shirt and begins walking to the waiting black car.

“Yes, but then where is the fun in that?” Lena mumbles. She climbs into the car after Sam opens the door for her; she shrugs off her shirt and throws it on the seat beside her as Sam and Lucy get in the car as well. “Send the cleaners in and make sure his people gets my message.”

“You sure you aren’t a sociopath yet, Lena?” Lucy quips from the passenger’s seat. Lena rolls her eyes and meets the woman’s gaze on the rearview mirror.

“I have no remorse for people like Morgan Edge,” she muses. “Three children are in the hospital because of him. One of them is close to death. I consider it justice.” She glances at the rack of blouses she has in the car and settles for a blood red one that matches her lipstick. “On that note, do either of you think I am too soft for this job?”

“Don’t let him get to you,” Sam says.

Lena scoffs as she puts on her blouse. “Please. Opinions of men like Edge bear no value to me. Still, I often question why I agreed with Moriarty on this.”

Lucy chuckles. “Taking over her criminal empire?”

“Taking over is an exaggeration, Lane,” Lena notes. “So is calling it a criminal empire. Besides, I’m merely taking charge of things, until she knocks her head on something during that stupid vacation she has with that Watson woman.” She practically snarls at the thought.

Sam glances at her through the rearview mirror as Lena removes her gloves. “Why did you?”

The raven-haired woman shrugs. She removes her ponytail and runs her fingers through her hair. “That stubborn piece of work is my best friend for one,” she says simply. There are a multitude of reasons as well—including that Jamie had been there for her when not even her family had been and this was her way of paying back.

Not that she ever really pictured herself being the head of a criminal empire, as Lucy had mentioned.

“If my best friend asked me to ‘take charge of’ something like this,” Lucy says with air quotes, “I’d shoot her in the face.”

Lena sighs. She looks out the car window and sees the L-Corp building, standing tall amidst the rest of National City. Her phone vibrates with a notification of her appointment in fifteen minutes—an interview with some reporter, presumably about the explosion at the Venture waterpark that Vasquez had told her about—but she pays it no mind.

“When you want what is good for the world, the end will always justify the means,” Lena says softly. “It is more efficient when you work both sides of the coin though, is it not?”

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“Ms. Luthor,” Jess greets as soon as Lena walks out of the elevator. The L-Corp CEO smiles at her and accepts the clipboard she is offered. “How was Mr. Edge?” The woman asks.

Lena only hums as she reads through the report she is given. The children are out of intensive care at least, and she quickly signs the check for the rest of their bills before handing the clipboard to Jess. “Made a mess of rather lovely shirt but that has been taken care of,” she says. “Is my 2PM here?”

Jess nods. “Waiting in your office. Scheduled is Clark Kent but he’s with another reporter.”

Lena tenses at the mention of the name. “Mr. Kent, huh?” She sighs. “Remind me again why I volunteered to sponsor that waterpark event?”

Her assistant chuckles. “You love children.”

“Wrong,” Lena points out with a raised eyebrow. “It was a cover for the exchange with OsCorp. Please do not make me sound so _soft,_ Jessica.”

Jess only snorts. “Sure, ma’am. Good luck.”

Lena rolls her eyes. As if she needs it. “How do I look?” She asks the woman as she turns to her. She is wearing a cream blazer over the blood red blouse she had changed into, with heels that set her a few inches taller than her assistant.   

“Killing it,” Jess says with a smirk.

Lena rolls her eyes again before making her way to her office.

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The raven-haired woman walks into her office with an air of confidence required of someone her stature and predicament—of someone innocent but carefully studied not by the police but the watchful eye of the media. Especially when said media is Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. He is one of their best investigative journalists, sure, but he was also Lex Luthor’s best friend once upon a time, before his descent to madness and his foolish, narrow-minded attempts at changing the world.

Lena knows she is better than him.

“Mr. Kent,” she greets the man who rises from his seat. She offers a hand for him to shake before glancing to his companion. “And who are you, exactly?”

The blonde woman beside Clark flusters, ducks and pushes her glasses up. Lena realizes her question came out more harshly than it sounded in her head and she offers a handshake and an apologetic smile towards the woman. “Lena Luthor.”

The blonde nods and shakes her hand. “Kara Danvers, from CatCo Magazine.”

Lena raises an eyebrow at that. “That is not a publication known for its hard-hitting journalism,” she comments as she turns to her desk. “More like: High-waisted jeans, yes or no.”

Kara ducks her head again at that. “I- I’m just tagging along today.”

Lena watches her with mild curiosity. She has no idea what the woman is here for and she doesn’t quite believe she is a reporter either, what with her bashful, _soft_ movements. Like she is unsure. Lena sighs and sits on her chair, looking pointedly at the two. “Can we just speed this interview along? Just ask what you want to ask me. Did I have anything to do with the Venture explosion?”

Clark smiles tightly. “Did you?”

Lena leans back against her chair and and crosses her legs. “You would not be asking me if my last name was Smith.”

“Ah, but it’s not,” Clark retorts. “It’s Luthor.”

Lena notices Kara whip her attention to him with wide eyes. It makes her chuckle. This woman is far too innocent for her to belong here. “Some steel under that Kansas wheat,” Lena chuckles. She glances to the window. “It was not always. I was adopted when I was four. And the person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex. He made me feel proud to be a Luthor.” She smiles wistfully, then returns her gaze back on the reporters. “And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis. Declared war on the government, committed unspeakable crimes. And when he was finally put in jail, I vowed to take back my family’s company. Renamed it L-Corp, make it a force for good.” Lena flits her gaze from Clark to the blonde.

Kara, was it?

“I am just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family,” Lena sighs. “Can you understand that?”

“Yeah,” Kara replies. Lena is surprised at her response and thinks she notices a flash of empathy in her eyes. Lena ignores it and stands.

“I know why you are here. Because L-Corp sponsored the event?” Lena takes one of the flash drives from the hub on her bookshelf and hands it to Clark. “This drive contains all the information we have on the event—suppliers, names of employees, every item brought in and out of the Venture. If you think you can find anything the police have not, be my guest.”

Clark accepts the drive with a nod. Lena crosses her arms and meets his gaze.

“A woman died in that explosion, Mr. Kent,” Lena says grimly. “She orphaned two children and widowed a husband. Do you think I want that on my conscience?” She sighs. “I am here for good reasons. I do not care if you believe that or not but at least give me a chance.”

The reporter only nods again, the same tight smile on his face. Lena wonders if he sees Lex in her. She turns her attention to the blonde.

“Ms. Danvers. I hope this isn’t the last time we talk,” Lena says with a teasing smile that only grows when Kara blushes again. Quite endearing, she thinks. “Maybe next time I can entertain you for a CatCo article.”

Kara almost lights up at that and she smiles, too. Curious. “I hope so,” the blonde says.

The reporters bid their farewell and Lena watches them leave. When the door to her office shuts closed, Lena walks back to her seat and dials a familiar number.

“Eve,” she greets. “Get me what you can about Kara Danvers.”

The woman on the other line makes a small sound. “Whatever do you want from sweet Kara?”

“Can someone do what I ask for without questioning me?” Lena sighs, cradling her head in her hand. “How do you know her?”

“She’s the assistant to Cat Grant, who I replaced,” Eve explains. “Real sweet girl, nice to everyone, even to her annoying boss. Don’t tell me she’s on your list, what did she do?”

Lena rolls her eyes. “She is on an altogether different list, Tessmacher,” she drawls. “Just get me what I want.” She pauses. “Add the boss to that task.”

Eve whistles lowly. “Give me three hours, Ms. Luthor.”

“Thank you.”

Lena ends the call. She gives the folders on her desk a glance. Finally picking up her pen, she opens one to read through, but her attention is all over the place. The police is not on her tail on the Venture given there is not a shred of evidence against her or L-Corp, but Lena feels anxious about the fact that the media is snooping around. She had planned that meticulously so she knows everything is _clean_ —though she did not really account for the collateral damage. That had been a mistake on her part, or on fate; how was Lena supposed to know the woman would run after her child’s balloon and right past the area she had blocked off? The reminder of that innocent life—and the lives that death had changed—weighs against her conscience and she grips her pen. She has already requested for the information on the woman and her family just to make sure she can extend help but she knows it won’t be the same.

Maybe Edge is right; she is too soft for this role.

She pushes away the thought and looks up at the door where the reporters had gone. She remembers the flitting look of empathy on Kara Danvers’ face.

Sweet Kara, Eve said.

Lena sighs. She will know more about her later but for now, business.


	2. The CEO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for blood and hints of child abuse. told y'all, this has dark themes, and it's only going to go downhill from here. let me know your thoughts.

"Lena. Make yourself useful," Lillian hissed. She reached for Lena's hand. The girl tried to pull away but her stepmother was too strong for her eight-year-old frame. "Open your hand."

Lena bit her lip but obeyed quietly. Lex wouldn't meet her gaze. He only stared at her shaking hand.

"Stay still," Lillian hissed. The blade was cold against her palm, its movement smooth as her stepmother ran it along the crease on the middle. Lillian turned to Lex. "What do you do on such instances?" She asked, as if she was talking about the weather. Lena's lip stung from biting and the red blooming on her palm burned but she kept quiet, like was told of her.

"Stop the bleeding b-by applying pressure on the wound," Lex said. He was a prodigy at thirteen. Lena was proud of him, most days. He grabbed the gauze from the first-aid kit and pressed it against Lena's palm. Lena whimpered through her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt Lex's hand trembling against hers but he didn't say anything else.

Lillian only hummed in approval. "Good," she said. "And how many stitches?"

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Lena flexes her left hand distractedly. She is in her study, nursing a glass of wine and reading through Kara Danvers' files, sent through her email earlier by Eve. She doesn't quite know what she was expecting, but it was not _this_. Meek little Kara was adopted by the Danvers when she was thirteen, after an accident killed her parents.

She clutches her wine glass more tightly, remembering the woman from the Venture explosion. Maria Castle, 34. Married to a Frank Castle with two kids, an eight-year-old Lisa and four-year-old Frank Jr. She takes a shuddering breath, remembering photos from the scene; Maria's body ws barely recognizable. Lisa had been crying. Frank Jr. wasn't entirely aware of what was happening, and when their father arrived, he had a mask of coldness Lena was wholly familiar with.

She downs her glass of wine and tries to blink away the tears. _This_ was perhaps the reason Edge thinks she is soft. Lena swallows the guilt but relishes it all the same, for what is she if she feels _nothing?_

Then she would be just like them. Like—

She can't.

Returning her attention to the folder in front of her, she flips through the reporter's files. The most interesting thing about Kara Danvers is perhaps, her stellar grades in science back high school, she chose to study Marketing at the National City University, only to end up being a waitress at a small coffee shop called Noonan's for three years.

And _then_ she became an assistant to Cat Grant for two years before she transferred to the news department, though she currently didn't have a beat she belonged to. A novice reporter in every sense of the word, which made her little _just tagging along today_ make so much more sense. She had no reporting experience whatsoever, just an internship at a Midvale Newspaper.

What Lena gets from her files is that she is a lost soul. Overall, Kara Danvers sounds quite bland for Lena's tastes.

And yet, something about her tugs at Lena. She remembers the fleeting look of empathy on her face.

Lena almost makes note of the fact her adoptive parents, Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers, are both scientists who have worked for the government, and that their biological daughter, Alexandra Danvers, was a bioengineering graduate-turned-FBI agent.

A curious family.

Lena puts aside the files and refills her glass of wine. Her study is quiet save for the soft piano playing from the gramophone in the corner of her room, but a light shuffling sound takes her attention. Lena sighs.

"Please learn how to knock," she mumbles, then leans back on her seat before turning to the doorway. "Or make an appointment ahead of time. Normal people do that."

Jamie emerges from the shadows with a proud little smirk. "Normal is overrated, Lena," she says as a greeting.

Lena just rolls her eyes. "Did you finally hit your head on something?"

"Now, now," Jamie chuckles. She steps forward to stand across Lena's desk; she wears a loose blouse tucked in dark pants from what Lena sees, coat still on, which means she doesn't plan on staying long. Lena isn't surprised. "I just wanted to bid my farewells. I'll be gone for… A week, maybe two?"

Lena purses her lips. "With Watson?"

Surprisingly—or otherwise, Lena supposes, because if there is one thing about Jamie that she has noticed these past few months, it's that she has _changed_ —the blonde smiles in a way entirely too fond for the psychopath-in-the-making that was her best friend. "Yes," she says. "Italy, this time."

"Say hi to the mafia for me," Lena mutters before lifting her glass of wine to her lips and taking a large gulp. 

Jamie only chuckles. "Are you still cross with me?"

"For abandoning your post?" Lena stares. "I am more than inclined to."

Jamie hums, rests her hands on the edge of Lena's table. The Luthor meets her gaze. Jamie smiles. "I hear you're doing just fine."

Lena tilts her head. "I am more than competent for this."

"That isn't what I meant," Jamie says softly. "You have your own motives for accepting my request and I respect that. And you know I trust no one more than you."

Lena raises an eyebrow. She is aware of that but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she leans back on her seat and meets Jamie's gaze head-on. "Why her?"

The blonde blinks at that, then chuckles. “You know how I’m drawn to things I don’t understand.”

“Is that why you are with her?" Lena counters. "Because she is a puzzle you cannot quite figure out yet?”

Jamie smiles fondly. “There is a certain enigma to her, I suppose, one I don’t think I can ever fathom. To be honest, _that_ is how it started. But now…” She scrunches her nose and shrugs. Lena doesn't think she has ever seen Jamie Moriarty _helpless._ “Don’t think I’m not one of those surprised about what I’ve decided to do, Lena.”

“For a woman,” Lena scoffs.

“For love.” Jamie sighs and looks away, and when she turns back to Lena, she wears an expression that is entirely too soft, one that Lena never really quite saw often, one that was only ever directed to her daughter, if Jamie can even call her such. “Maybe one day you’ll understand.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “For you to imply that—”

“Love isn’t a weakness, Lena,” Jamie whispers. “For the longest time I thought it was. It did cause my downfall the first time, after all, but then again, I wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for it.” She smiles tightly at Lena. “If it weren't for you.”

Lena grits her teeth and crosses her arms. "I  will not pick up the pieces when you end up broken again."

"Funnily enough," Jamie chuckles, "I've never felt more invincible."

The raven-haired woman purses her lips and stares at Jamie.

The blonde sighs and pushes herself to stand straight, slips her hands into her coat pockets. "Well. You'll know how to find me should you ever need to."

"And when can I meet this Joan?" Lena asks.

Jamie smirks. "When you can behave."

"I am entitled to a shovel talk," she reminds.

"And I'm sure you have a rather colorful one," Jamie chuckles. "But soon, Lena. I worry she isn't quite ready for how… intense you are."

Lena laughs sharply. "And yet she is dating you."

"I'd like to think I've mellowed down now," Jamie shoots back.

"Soft is what you have become, my dear," Lena sighs, smiling at the blonde with an expression borne of fondness and worry. "Remember where you came from."

"Remember what you'll become," Jamie whispers. With a nod, she leaves.

Lena stares where she has gone.

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"Jess," Lena says to the intercom. She stands in front of her desk and stares at the vase of flowers on it. Plumerias. Rare. She remembers the garden behind the Luthor mansion, the pastel yellow-white of the flowers. "Why are there flowers on my desk?"

There is static before Jess answers. "Delivery," she says simply. "Don't worry, I had Sam go through it. It's safe, Ms. Luthor. Just flowers."

Lena swallows thickly. They aren't just flowers. If there is anything Lena has learned in her years of living and trying to stay as such, everything has meaning, and these plumerias are a message. One that makes Lena clench her fists in anxiety and anger.

"Ms. Luthor?" Jess's voice comes in through the intercom gain. "There's a Ms. Danvers here asking for you."

At the mention of the name, Lena turns her gaze from the vase the intercom. She sighs and pulls herself together, takes the flowers to place them on the coffee table to the side, out of her sight. "Let her in," Lena  says to the intercom. She clears her throat and shakes her head. There is a phantom ache on her left hand that she tries to ignore as she sits on her chair. It's much easier when she sees the blonde reporter walk in.

"Ms. Luthor," she says with a duck of her head and a push of her glasses. It proves enough a distraction for Lena and she takes note of how Kara looks: blonde hair in a braid, glasses askew, gray sweater over a white dress shirt tucked in dark green slacks, oxford shoes, anxiety in her soft smile.

"Lena please," Lena says, standing and offering her hand to the reporter. "Good to see you again, Ms. Danvers."

Kara shakes her hand. Soft. "If I'm calling you Lena—"

"Kara it is," Lena chuckles. There's something unsettling about her first name on Lena's tongue but she ignores  it. "I have to say I am a bit surprised to see you. On your own no less." Lena smirks when Kara blushes. "Not tagging along anymore today?"

The reporter chuckles, almost nervously. "I'm actually officially here as a reporter," Kara says, fiddling with her glasses. "Just finished an interview with your Biotech Head earlier, for an article, and I was wondering if I could ask for a quote? A-about Biomax, I mean." She fishes a notebook from her bag. "I know you're busy, so a quick one would suffice."

Lena raises a curious eyebrow. It seems this little lost soul has found a new path to tread on, now making full use, perhaps, of the wits Lena knows she has. "I never realized CatCo has a science beat."

Kara bites her lip. "It's a fairly small section, but yeah."

Lena hums. "Let me show you something." She stands and Kara follows her out of her office, down the hall, to one of their showcase rooms. In the middle of it is a demo of the Biomax module they have prepared for the launch in two weeks, ready for previews but never really shown to anyone outside the team until now.

"Is this it?" Kara asks, eyes wide with amazement.

Lena chuckles. "Essentially. Come here," she says, gesturing Kara closer. The blonde bites her lips and obeys, standing beside Lena. The CEO presses a button, lighting up the small column and showing a lens in the middle. Under it is a small knife. Lena takes it in her right hand and flexes her left hand under the lens, and without hesitation, slices her palm open.

Kara gasps.

"Are you scared of blood?" Lena smiles. "Sorry, I should have warned you. But you have to watch now."

Lena presses another button. Within seconds, a swarm of the Biomax nanobots are released from the column. They make their way to Lena's palm, making quick work of closing the wound, and moments later Lena's hand is good as new. She brings it up for Kara to see.

"How is that for a preview?" Lena smirks. Kara is still staring at her palm, and Lena almost jumps when the reporter reaches for her hand.

"There's a scar," Kara whispers, fingers tracing the line down Lena's palm. The CEO swallows thickly.

"Oh," she chuckles. "No, that's—" Lena licks her suddenly dry lips. "That one is an old scar."

Kara blinks at that and nods, but takes a moment before she finally pulls away. She hugs the notebook she brings against her chest and smiles at Lena. "That's amazing."

"Imagine the implications of it," Lena says proudly. It's one of the projects she has been working on for years, and she cannot wait to show it off to the world. She can't wait to help people in need of it. "No longer will we need to inoculate ourselves against disease, risk complications by going under anesthesia, or combat increasingly resistant bacteria with antibiotics."

"Can I quote you on those?" Kara asks with a little smile. It catches Lena off guard, the way her eyes shine with the bright light beside her.

Lena laughs lightly. "Ah, but that will spoil everyone. How about this?" She hums and pretends to think. "L-Corp aims to propel humanity into the future, and Biomax will be the next medical miracle."

Kara nods and writes the CEO's words down. Lena watches her in amusement. She bites her lip while writing, all too eagerly, and Lena realizes that despite her blandness on paper, Kara Danvers is… something.

She just can't quite figure her out yet, exactly.

"Thank you so much, Ms. L— Lena," Kara practically breathes out, then smiles.

Lena smiles, too. "I did promise to entertain you for your article," she says.

At that, Kara ducks her head and chuckles nervously. "You did more than just that," she replies. "It's a privilege to be one of the first to see this technology."

Lena leads her out of the room and back to her office. "You are the first civilian to see it actually," Lena says.

There is the wide-eyed wonder in Kara's eyes again. It's refreshing, her innocence, the way she gapes so curiously at Lena. It's nothing short of captivating. "That's… wow. Thank you."

Lena smiles. "No problem. I look forward to reading your article, Kara." She offers her hand to the reporter. "And maybe to seeing you at the launch?"

Kara beams at the invitation. "I wouldn't dare miss it, Lena."

When she leaves, Lena watches the space where she had gone. Her perfume lingers in the air, some sort of sweetness that tugs Lena's curiosity.

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Later, while Lena reads through approvals of the Biomax launch press releases, she receives a call from Sam.

"We found him," the woman says grimly.

There's the phantom ache on Lena's left hand, of a wound that never quite healed. "I'm on my way."


	3. The Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for lots of blood, torture, and implied murder. Shoutout to the [Killing Eve playlist on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bbcamerica/playlist/3w18u69NplCpXVG4fQG726) for this darkness and @dorctoreegah on Tumblr for recommending it.

It was not often that Lena was allowed to lock herself up in her room. Most hours of the day, Lillian would have her in various lessons she attended with only half her mind, and it was only when she was locked in her bedroom with her books that she ever really felt like existing.

There was a knock on the door—Morse code for LL—that had Lena standing to unlock it for her brother. The boy walked in, curly hair sticking to his forehead. Lena laughed at him in greeting.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

At that, Lena fell quiet. She walked back to her bed and took her book back on her lap.

"Does she know you're here?" Lena asked in a mumble.

Lex doesn't answer. "Does it hurt?" He asked softly, approaching her bed warily. His hand reached out for Lena's gauzed one but he hesitated. "Look, Lena, I—"

"It's fine, Lex," Lena said with a shrug. She smiled up at him. He looked sad, so different from the boy she met when she was four. "Good job on the stitches." 

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"John Corben," Lena greets with a little laugh as she walks in to the brightly-lit warehouse. Sam is on one side, munching on what looks like an energy bar, while Lucy seems to be busying herself with cleaning her gun. Lena greets them with a little wave before turning to the man tied to a chair in the middle of the room. "Oh dear, look at you. You look a little bit shaken up. I hope my friends here have been treating you well?"

"Lena Luthor," John practically spits out. "Why am I not surprised?"

Lena smiles and puts down the briefcase she is bringing to the desk right across John, beside the one Lucy always brought for her. Lena doesn't think she'll need it, but Lucy does like being prepared. She turns back to the man. "Did you miss me, John? How are you? Still a pathetic lackey of my mother's after all these years?"

The man laughs. "Still a disappointment after all these years?"

Lena's jaw clenches but she keeps the smile on her face. "I see you have retained your bite." She circles his seat, gloved right hand caressing his bare shoulders. "Now that we have caught up, I have to admit, I think it is quite pointless to ask you to give up my mother's location, but alas." She stops behind him and leans in to whisper against his ear. "I do believe in giving people equal chances."

John laughs sharply. Lena catches Sam crossing her arms in her annoyance. The CEO just pats John's shoulder. "Yes, I too wonder where I got such patience," Lena sighs. "Certainly not from my mother." She tilts her head and walks back to the table in front of John. She opens the briefcase she brought and eyes the object that lies in it with a proud little smile. She turns to John again, a certain twinkle in her eye. Lena smiles. "And also so I could test this. I have been holding back on launching them just for _you."_

There is wariness that settles on John's eyes, one that Lena savors. "So, I will ask you. Where is Lillian?"

The man only scoffs. At it, Lena smiles. "Good. I expected no less." She lifts her pencil skirt, smirking when John follows he movement, and she hesitates for a bit before grabbing the small knife hidden in her thigh holster before stabbing John's left thigh.

John only grunts and grits his teeth. " _Good boy,"_ Lena hums, impressed. She pulls the knife and licks her lips as she watches blood slowly pool from the wound. "That little wound will bleed you out in a matter of an hour. You will first suffer of hypovolemic shock, of course, which will start in… fifteen minutes, I think. You will start looking pale, feel a bit clammy. Maybe even start to feel _anxiety,_ my dear Corben, for once."

Lena walks around him again, stands behind his chair and drags the tip of her knife down his neck, along where his jugular is. "I could speed that up. Get your heartbeat _pumping_ only for you to bleed out. You will choke from respiratory failure and cardiogenic shock first, however." She smiles, wordlessly digs the tip of her knife down John's neck. The man groans this time, but it only causes the blood to spurt out of his neck. He gurgles.

"Where is Lillian, John?" Lena asks again.

"Fuck you," John spits.

Lena smiles bitterly. "I think you have tried that before," she whispers. Sam catches it and she takes a step forward. Lena shakes her head at her, then continues to watch John sputter, the pallor of his skin a contrast to the beautiful bright red of his blood. "Now. Like I said, I do believe in giving people equal chances, so."

She turns back to the table. She takes a metal sphere from the briefcase, emblazoned with the L-Corp logo on at one side. It fits perfectly on her left hand, small but heavy. She faces John again, smile more of a satisfied little smirk now. She presses a button on the sphere. There's a beep. Lena watches as a swarm of Biomax nanobots fly towards John before parting into two groups, one congregating on his thigh and one focusing on his neck.

Seconds later, the nanobots are gone and John is gasping for breath.

"What- What the…"

Lena chuckles proudly. "Amazing, is it not?" She eyes the sphere in her hand. "Even the pain is gone."

There is fear in his eyes that she has never seen before, but it sends a thrill down her spine.

"So trust me, John, I can do this over and _over_ until I get bored, or until you bleed out. Whichever comes first." Lena lifts the knife for him to see. "Which would it be?"

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Lena was ten and Lex was fifteen when he received his letters of invitation from each and every Ivy League school. Lillian had been very proud of him. Lionel too, and for the first time he had looked at Lena with a hint of expectation in his eyes before it vanished. During dinner, that night, when their parents were done congratulating Lex, Lionel turned to Lena with an understanding smile.

"You'll be great like your brother," he said. "I just know it."

When Lionel left for a business meeting to Belgium and returned a lifeless body, those words were the only thing Lena could hold on to, especially when Lillian told her over and over again that it was Lena's fault.

Her ten-year-old mind couldn't wrap itself around the idea, but Lillian had been angry and Lex just looked sad, and Lena just figured out perhaps her mother was right.

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"If you didn't expect him to say anything, why torture him?" Sam asks.

Lena shrugs, wiping the blood off her knife with a white cloth that turns bright red. "He deserves it," she says simply. "I could have taken an eye for an eye approach fitting of what he has done but that would have been so much messier."

"I'll make sure the cleaners know of your consideration," Lucy snickers.

"Good," Lena says. "Make sure you return him where you found him. Lillian might be looking for him."

Sam nods. "And will we need to accompany you to Arkham?"

Lena pauses. She returns her knife to her thigh holster and neatly folds the bloody cloth back on the table. "I will not be visiting."

"This is the fourth month."

The CEO shrugs and puts back the Biomax sphere in the suitcase. "I am well aware, Sam," she says, locking the case. She picks it up and smiles. "Now. I trust you two can finish up here?"

At Lucy's and Sam's nods, Lena gives them a little wave. "I am off now. I need some calming tea after that." 

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At a coffee shop near L-Corp, Lena waits on the queue as she checks her email on her phone. It vibrates with a call from Sam. She rolls her eyes when she answers it.

"I said I will be fine, Samantha," Lena sighs tiredly. "You know full well I can take care of myself. I _am_ a grown-ass woman." She rolls her eyes. "Fine, one latte for you. And Lucy?"

It only takes a moment. There was a bang, the crashing of glass, then she finds herself on the floor shielded by another body.

 _Lena?_ Sam's voice yells from her phone, the screen cracked, on the ground a short distance from her.

"Are you okay?" The woman asks, worry in her features as she gets off of Lena to kneel beside her, as if searching for any injuries. At Lena's nod, she looks around. Lena barely notices her telling everyone to calm down before reaching for the phone in her pocket, telling whoever was in the other line to send police to the coffee shop.

Lena remembers her face from the files Eve had sent.

_Special Agent Alex Danvers._

Well. The city might be smaller than she thought.


End file.
